Inglis amps up attacks

With his upstate South Carolina House seat in jeopardy, Rep. Bob Inglis is intensifying his attacks against Spartanburg County Solicitor Trey Gowdy, a top challenger in the June 8 primary.

Inglis is planning a Tuesday afternoon news conference in Spartanburg to blast Gowdy’s record on spending – a move that came one day after Inglis, through his Twitter account, challenged Gowdy to a series of impromptu debates as he hop-scotched across the district. Gowdy did not show up to any of the proposed events.

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“Disappointed that Trey Gowdy didn't join us for breakfast Let's Talk in Simpsonville. But maybe he will join us for lunch @ noon @ Yawns,” Inglis wrote Monday.

When Gowdy didn’t show up, Inglis wrote, “I can understand why Trey Gowdy might not have wanted to come to Let's Talk. His supporters were there, though. So let's get together . . “

Inglis campaign spokesman Price Atkinson explained to POLITICO in an email, “Voters need to know what kind of candidate they're voting for. In this case it's important to be transparent and point out that Trey Gowdy financially backed Democratic Senator Fritz Hollings and the Democratic policies Hollings supported and conservative issues he opposed like a balanced budget amendment, creating personal retirement accounts and the '99 tax cuts.”

Terry Sullivan, a Gowdy campaign consultant, shrugged off the Inglis offensive, saying, “I guess if I had gone to Washington 18 years ago, voted against President Bush’s troop surge, co-authored a carbon tax, traveled the world at taxpayer expense in search of global warming research, voted for the bailout, I guess I would be attacking my opponent over decade-old campaign contributions.”

College professor Christina Jeffrey and state Sen. David Thomas are also running in the 4th District GOP primary.